Syncor and Mallinckrodt build new ties

Radiopharmacy competitors Syncor International and MallinckrodtMedical have become allies under a product exchange deal announcedlast week. The agreement gives each company access to the other'sproducts, a situation that should expand markets for their respectiveradiopharmaceuticals.

Syncor of Chatsworth, CA, has a longstanding distribution relationshipwith radiopharmaceutical developer Du Pont Merck, while St. Louis-basedMallinckrodt distributed its products through its own radiopharmaciesas well as through those of radiopharmacy firm Medi-Physics. Neitherradiopharmaceutical chain had access to the other's products.Syncor has 119 pharmacies in its U.S. network, compared with 35for Mallinckrodt.

Last week's agreement ends the exclusivity stand-off. Syncorwill now be able to market all of Mallinckrodt's portfolio, includingits Octreoscan peptide-labeled radiopharmaceutical, while Mallinckrodtcan distribute three Du Pont products: Cardiolite, Neurolite,and IV Persantine.

The deal should improve the range of choices available to Syncorand Mallinckrodt customers, according to Syncor spokesperson MaryMeusborn.

"They are a competitor, but if we want to be the providerof choice, and the customer wants a Mallinckrodt product, whatbetter way to meet their needs than to enter into such an agreement,"Meusborn said.

The deal is effective immediately, and Syncor expects productdeliveries to each firm's network to begin April 29, accordingto Meusborn.